What's Happening at the Hive

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Hello Florida Ruffin Ridley School Families and Friends,

March Madness has arrived!! We are eagerly anticipating Spring weather!!! This past month, we came together as a school for our Black History Assembly. We had singing, artwork, biographies and speeches written by students from Kinder to 8th. Thank you to all of our students and staff who participated. We also hosted a BLACK History door decorating contest, with the theme "A Century of Black Life, History and Culture. Members of our student council used a rubric to go from room to room to rate the classroom doors. Congrats to 5H for being chosen as this years winners

Monday and Tuesday this week we cheered on our girls and boys basketball teams that made it to the Semifinals. Great job this season to both teams! Special shout out to our coaches, Coach Klein, Coach Poole and Coach Baran!!!

This month we prepare to transition into testing session for our students in grades 3-8th. Please be sure to see the MCAS schedule highlighted below. Additionally, help me in welcoming two new staff members to our school.

Welcome New paraprofessionals:

• Mia McGillicuddy (5-6 Learning Center)

Welcome our New Learning Center Teacher (New Position)

• Nicole Wiggins (K-2)

Hi! My name is Nicole Wiggins (Ms. Wiggins). I graduated with my degree in Special Education from the University of Connecticut in 2021. I then went on to earn my Master's degree in 2022 in Educational Psychology, also from the University of Connecticut. For the past two years, I have been working as an elementary substantially separate special education teacher in Mattapan, MA. I am very excited to start working with and learning from the faculty, students and families at the Florida Ruffin Ridley School! When I am not teaching, you will probably find me running, watching UConn basketball games (mens and womens!) or hanging out with my dog, Honey!

Please see the schedule below for MCAS Testing at the Ruffin Ridley School!

ELA Testing :

Grades 3,4,5

March 26th -Session 1

March 27th- Session 2

Make-up date March 28th

Grades 6,7,8

April 2nd- Session 1

April 4th- Session 2

Make-up date: April 5th

Math Testing:

Grades 3,4,5

May 7th- Session 1

May 8th- Session 2

Make-up date: May 9th

Grades 6,7,8

May 14th- Session 1

May 15TH- Session 2

Make-up date May 16th

Science:

FRR- Grades 5 and 8

May 22nd Session 1

May 23rd- Session 2

Make-up date May 24th

Grade 8 Civics Field Test:

June 4th- Session 1

June 5th Session 2

Make-up date June 6th

Thanks for all that you do,

Principal Whitmore

From Monday, March 11 through Tuesday, April 9, PSB Food Services will be providing Iftar packages to students observing Ramadan.

Students may pick up bags during the lunch period from the cafeteria serving line.

March

• Wednesday, 3/6/24 Brookline Leaders and Readers 7pm on Zoom
• Thursday 3/7/24 - Craft Fair 6:30-8pm Cafe.......DASEP Starts!
• Sunday, 3/10- Tuesday 4/9/24- Ramadan
• Thursday 3/14- 7pm Introduction to Athletics (8th grade only) at High School
• Tuesday, 3/19/24 - Thursday, 3/21/24- Big Book Bazaar and Kindness Week
• Saturday, 3/23-3/24- Purim
• Friday, March 29th -Good Friday (No School) (Day of Low attendance)
• Tuesday March 26th: Site Council Meeting (Virtual) 3-4pm
• Tuesday March 26th- Thursday, March 28th- MCAS ELA Testing (3-8)
  
• Thursday, March 29th- Hive Pride Day!
• Monday, March 31st- Eid-al-Fitr

April

• Wednesday, April 3: K-12 dismissed at 12:40 PM

• April 2nd 4th, and 5TH - MCAS Testing (grades 3-8)

• Thursday, April 11: K-6* dismissed at 12.40 PM (7th and 8th dismiss at 2:30)

• Thursday, April 25: K-6* dismissed at 12.40 PM (7th and 8th dismiss at 2:30)

• Monday, April 15 - Friday, April 19: April break

• Monday, April 22- April 30th- Passover

With the mornings getting colder each day we are noticing more students arriving to and leaving school by vehicle. A few reminders:

There is NO driving in the front loop between 7:45 - 8:15am and 2:15 - 2:45pm (1:30-1:50pm on Fridays). Please do not move the baracades.

You may either park on Harvard and walk your student to the front door, or have them walk themselves, OR drive up Stedman Street and use the LIVE PARKING ONLY left lane to drop off

The left lane on Stedman Street is for LIVE PARKING ONLY

Please do not exit your vehicle when dropping off or picking up when parked on the left side of Stedman Street

Also when pulling back out into traffic on Stedman please be careful to look for pedestrians and cyclists

Please do not park on the RIGHT side of Stedman Street for arrival and dismissal. We want to be good neighbors and not disturb the flow of traffic in the neighborhood.

If you are dismissing your child(ren) early from school, you must physically be present at the school’s main entrance on Harvard Street and ring the bell prior to your child(ren) being allowed to leave the school. As a reminder, please do not call or text your child(ren) with dismissal plans during the school day as they are not allowed to use their phones during the day here in school.

Please join us for the School Site Council Meeting. This will be a virtual meeting from 3:00-4:00pm. Please join the link below:

Topic: School Site Council Meeting

Time: Mar 26, 2024 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://psbma-org.zoom.us/j/99220703903?pwd=TlJ4TUNkVUMvR0NnUTV4SFNsNmFmdz09

Meeting ID: 992 2070 3903

Passcode: 778498

Agenda:

1. How to ReBUILD the Council
2. School Improvement

Hello, we would like to introduce ourselves as the Sepac (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) Liaisons for FRR for the 2023- 2024 school year. Please feel free to reach out to us if we can support you in any way or assist in navigating the special education process. We can be reached via email: Tamar Davis Galper sunshine444@gmail.com and Melissa Barden: medwyer@hotmail.com. You can also refer to the Sepac website for further information and resources: https://www.brooklinesepac.org/

Dear Parent/Guardian:

Postural screening will be conducted in your child's physical education class sometime during

the week of March 18th. Postural screenings detect signs of spinal curvature at the earliest

stages so that the need for treatment can be determined. This screening program is required

by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health/School Health Services.

Scoliosis, the most common spinal abnormality, is a side-to-side curve of the spine. It is

usually detected in childhood or early adolescence. Most cases of spinal curvatures are mild

and require only ongoing observation by a physician after the diagnosis has been made.

Mild curvatures are often noticeable only to those trained in detecting spinal abnormalities.

Others may become progressively more severe as the child continues to grow. Early treatment

can prevent the development of a severe deformity, which can later affect the health and

appearance of the child.

The procedure for screening is private, simple and pain free. All students will be screened

individually. The entire back must be visible during the screening process. Students will

remove their shirts and may choose to wear a bra, sports bra or bathing suit top for the

screening. You may want to remind your child to place these items in their backpack for

coverage, if preferred.

You will be notified of results only if medical follow-up is recommended.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recognizes the parental right to refuse

screening services offered through a comprehensive school health program. The statute

(M.G.L. c71, s57) states in part that any child shall be exempt on religious grounds from these

examinations upon written request of parent or guardian.

If a parent/guardian chooses to refuse the postural screening service at school for reasons

other than on religious grounds, we request that the parent/guardian provide the school

nurse with written documentation. This documentation should state that your child is

currently under care for scoliosis, with physician name included, or that your child has had

postural screening completed by a healthcare provider, including date and findings of the

screening, and the healthcare provider’s signature.

Sincerely,

Anna Peterson, FRR School Nurse

Jana Young, FRR School Nurse

If you do not want your child to participate in the postural screening, please complete and

return the form on the next page, by Thursday, March 14th

Big Book Bazaar (BBB): March 19 - 21

• Look in your student's backpack this week for more info. Please return your envelopes before BBB starts.
• We are currently accepting used book donations at all three FRR entrances.
• Sign up to volunteer!
• Family Night: Thursday March 21, 6-9 PM. Shop for books including our $1 no-limit used book section, teacher's wish lists, local author visits, crafts, and more!

Kindness Fair is Back!

• March 19 - 21, 2024 (same time, same place as the Big Book Bazaar)
• The Kindness Fair showcases projects on kindness, inclusion, and equity - anything that makes our community a kinder place.
• Visit the Kindness Fair web page here for more details and ideas!

No School

• Friday, March 29: Good Friday (day of low attendance)
• Monday, April 15 - Friday, April 19: April break

Early Dismissal Dates for Parent-Teacher Conferences

• Wednesday, April 3: K-12 dismissed at 12:40 PM

• Thursday, April 11: K-6* dismissed at 12.40 PM

• Thursday, April 25: K-6* dismissed at 12.40 PM

• Wednesday, May 1: K-6* dismissed at 12.40 PM

* Grades 7 and 8 dismissed at 2:30 PM on these dates

International Night

• Friday, May 3, 6 - 8 PM
• FRR rear playground area

Kids for Green Energy Club

FRR students Naissa, Isha, and Rohith formed a Brookline club called Kids for Green Energy Club. The Club's aim is to decrease pollution in Brookline by advocating for green electricity, which is electricity sourced from renewable resources.

The Biweekly Buzz is Florida Ruffin Ridley’s new newspaper club! It’s an all-inclusive writing experience for all grades. Meetings are held in room 321 on Mondays from 2:35-3:00pm. Editions will be published every other week on Friday. We would love to have more students join us!

Email: candice_whitmore@psbma.org
Website: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/ruffinridley
Location: 345 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA, USA
Phone: 617-879-4400
Twitter: @TheHiveInCC